Seahawks Du Jour – 5 Reasons Seattle Lost to the Cardinals In Week 17

And So Begins The Offseason

In the last game of the season the Seahawks lost to the Cardinals 23-20 in OT to finish the season at 7-9. After getting back in the playoff picture with winning 5 of 6 games in the latter part of the season Seattle lost their last 2 games to fall to under .500 for the season.

Here are my 5 reasons the Seahawks lost to the Cardinals on Sunday.

1. Fitz = Stud

I’ve said it before, and I’ll say it again. Larry Fitzgerald is THE BEST WIDE RECEIVER IN THE NFL!

Argue with me if you want.

Megatron this, Wes Welker that, Roddy White, ya ya.

I’d take Larry on my team over anyone EVERY given Sunday.

Why you ask could the Seattle DB’s not stop Fitzgerald on the game winning drive? Easy. He is the best player on the field, and sometimes said best player just does better things. Plain and Simple.

After Seattle failed to move the ball when they got the ball in OT the Cardinals marched down the field and the main reason was 2 big catches from Fitzgerald.

He jumped up and made a 26-yard catch with 2 Seattle defenders draped on him on a 3rd and 26 to give Arizona a HUGE first down. Then on Seattle’s 36-yard line Fitzgerald made a spectacular 1-hand grab to give Cardinals another first down deep in Seahawks’ territory.

2. Jeremy Bates play calling (I Kid)

The Offense stalled in the clutch that’s all. Plain and Simple.

Seattle had Lady Luck on their side, as OT started winning the coin flip.

Pete sent Touchdown Jesus out to win the toss and he got his Sunday miracle. It didn’t help much though…

On the kickoff Leon Washingtonreturned the kick 46 yards to the Seattle 40 giving the Seahawks fantastic field position. However, the Seattle offense stalled and could not move the ball and had to punt.

The Cardinals then scored on the ensuing drive to win the game with a Feely field goal.

3. 3rd downs killed them

So did poor play. They only picked up 3 of their 17 3rd down conversions.

That my friends is not going to get it done on Sunday’s in the NFL. On D they did not play particularly well on 3rd down allowing the Cardinals to go 7/17 on 3rd down conversions and allowing them to pick up their only 4th down conversion.

The 4th down conversion was a big one with Arizona QB John Skelton taking a QB sneak 1-yard to keep the game winning drive alive.

Cardinals Larry Fitzgerald with the ball after making a reception in front of Raheem Brock. This just in. He's pretty good! - (AP Photo/Paul Connors)

4. Tarvaris first half woes

Was it just me or did you notice our offense was brutal in the first 30 minutes and limped into halftime. While the Seattle defense played well in the first half the offense was pathetic.

They only scored 3 points in the first 2 quarters.

If Ben Obomanu had made a few plays this could have been a different story.

One of those catches was his fault, the other I’ll put on Tarvaris Jacksonfor overthrowing him, but to win we all know you have to make plays.

Ben Obomanu did not on Sunday. You’ve probably seen him play his last game as a Seahawk.

5. PP

This just in. Patrick Peterson, ya, he’s pretty good.

Peterson, who made the Pro Bowl as a special team’s player, had a great game with a 42-yard kickoff return to set up an Arizona FG and he also came in untouched to block a short Seattle FG late in the game.

We witnessed some great special teams individual play on Sunday between him and Seahawks ace Leon Washington. (Who I believe should be back next year in a Seahawks uniform)

Next Up: A long off-season where the Seahawks will be watching the playoffs from home.

There were some great moments from the Seahawks this season and there are a lot of question marks heading into the off-season with the 2 biggest being if they can re-sign RB Marshawn Lynch and if they can pick up a QB that can lead them back to the post-season.

It looked to me that they were just going through the motions until 10:34 (about) left to go in the 4th, when they scored 10 unanswered to tie it up. Just didn’t see a lot of effort. IMO, that is the #1 reason: no motivation